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Tuesday News: Parting is such sweet sorrow...

Submitted by BlueNC on Tue, 04/16/2019 - 09:22

DALLAS WOODHOUSE WILL LEAVE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR POSITION IN JUNE: The party’s central committee, a group of about 30 people, held an hours-long meeting Sunday night at which it discussed Woodhouse’s future. Early Monday, McClatchy was not able to determine what was decided. The meeting came after the party’s chairman, Robin Hayes, was indicted for allegedly trying to funnel bribe money to N.C. Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey and making false statements to the FBI. Hayes relinquished some of his duties at the NC GOP, appointing Aubrey Woodard as acting chair. Woodhouse wasn’t mentioned in the indictment and says he’s not a target of the investigation. But he testified before the grand jury in December, as McClatchy previously reported. “I am under contract through the convention,” Woodhouse said in a text. “After that, with the election of a new chair, and after four years, a run longer than most, I am moving on. This was always what I had in mind.”https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article229193954.html

ANTI-ABORTION BILL PASSES OUT OF NC SENATE: A bill that would make it a felony for a doctor to fail to perform lifesaving measures on a baby born alive as a result of a botched abortion passed the Senate on Monday night, despite opposition from Democrats who say it's a political attempt to demonize abortion providers. It's unclear how often babies are born in such a scenario and even less clear how often doctors fail to take action to save the baby's life. Supporters claim that data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show it happens hundreds of times a year, but the CDC confirmed to WRAL News that it does not track either specific set of data, reporting only on mortality in birth. Late-term abortions, the cases in which a such a birth would be most likely to occur, make up less than 1 percent of all abortions. For years in North Carolina, abortion has been banned after 20 weeks. Late-term abortions were allowed only when the mother's life or health is endangered by the pregnancy. However, a federal judge recently overturned the state's 20-week ban. That ruling has been temporarily stayed pending appeal.https://www.wral.com/born-alive-abortion-bill-passes-senate/18328277/

BETO O'ROURKE HITS ALL THE RIGHT NOTES ON HIS VISIT TO NC: In Chapel Hill, O’Rourke told the crowd climate change is “the greatest challenge of them all,” and called for a fast pivot away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy. O’Rourke also spoke in Spanish several times, and called for changes to U.S. immigration policy. He said undocumented immigrants who are already here should get help to fully join society, and he said the U.S. should have less draconian policies for handling people who come here seeking asylum. “We must vow never again to take another child from another parent when they come to our country,” he said. He also called for universal health care, a higher minimum wage, and universal background checks on gun purchases. O’Rourke called HB2 “a very hateful bathroom bill that you exported to Texas,” fueled by “paranoia for political gain.”https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article229170484.html

COOP APPOINTS ACLU LAWYER TO COURT OF APPEALS: Cooper appointed state ACLU legal director Chris Brook and Reuben Young — chief deputy secretary for adult corrections and juvenile justice — to the intermediate-level appeals court. The appointments of Brook and Young, which last through the end of 2020, move the court more leftward for now. They can choose to run for full eight-year terms on the November 2020 ballot. Brook has been involved in litigation successfully challenging North Carolina's constitutional amendment prohibition on gay marriage and seeking to overturn the state's Republican-approved "bathroom bill," as well as a replacement measure. Young joined Cooper's administration in late 2017 to take over the state's troubled prison system following the deaths of five workers in prison attacks earlier that year. "The work of the North Carolina Court of Appeals must instill confidence in the people of our state, reminding them they live within a fair and just society," Cooper said in a news release. "These appointees will bring extensive legal experience to their service on the court."https://www.wral.com/cooper-picks-aclu-lawyer-prisons-chief-for-appeals-court/18327530/

MACRON VOWS TO REBUILD ROOF OF NOTRE DAME AFTER FIRE RAVAGED THE CATHEDRAL: Just hours after the cathedral’s lacy spire and much of its roof collapsed amid leaping flames and smoke on Monday, Mr. Macron stood outside the still-burning structure and said an international effort to raise funds for reconstruction would begin Tuesday. “We will rebuild Notre-Dame,” he said. “Because that is what the French expect.” The billionaire Pinault family of France pledged 100 million euros, or about $113 million, to the effort, Agence-France Presse reported, and the family of Bernard Arnault, owners of the luxury goods group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, plan to contribute €200 million. The first fire alarm on Monday was triggered at 6:20 p.m., and checks were carried out but no fire was found, the Paris prosecutor, Rémy Heitz, said on Tuesday. A second alarm went off at 6:43 p.m., he said, and fire was discovered in the wooden framework of the attic. “In the meantime, the cathedral had been evacuated, because a Mass had started shortly before,” he said.https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/16/world/europe/notre-dame-fire-investigation.html?action=click&modu...

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